Background Noise: Lies, Once Soundtrack
Last Visited: Itchy (conference room)
Random Thought: Enjoy your newfound ecological awareness
Mood: taking time to save yourself
When i was younger my family and i lived in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Somewhere around the time kids loose their last baby tooth, mine was hanging by a thread (literally, it was gross) and annoying the heck out of me. I wanted that tooth gone. I wanted to stop thinking about it. I wanted my dad to stop telling me to tie a string around it and around a door knob and slam the door. I wanted... well, i think i wanted the dollar from the tooth fairy, to be honest. Regardless, that tooth and i needed to part company.
I decided to petition my mother for possible solutions to my problem, since i obviously wasn't going to ask my dad about this particular subject anymore (see above), and her solution was simple: if i wanted the tooth gone so badly i should walk up to the dentist on the corner and have it taken out. I'm going to say that again:
I (a maybe 7 year old) should walk to the corner (by myself) and go to the dentist (by myself, without an appointment) and have them take out my tooth (without requiring payment, obviously, because i was 7. maybe.)
My american mother told me this. Why? well, i'm sure her answer would be "we were paying them enough in taxes, damnit, the least they can do is take out your tooth", which, after I've had my own experiences writing checks to governments, is a statement i totally agree with. Anyways, back to the story.
So i did what my mother told me: i walked up to the denist office on the corner (there was also a grocery store, a convenience store, a book store, and a doctors office), walked in, said hi to the lady behind the counter who knew who i was, she ushered me back into an office where i climbed up on the chair, and moments later the dentist came in and pulled out my tooth. Which, for the record, hurt like hell. I've always been a wimp about my teeth. He put my tooth in a very adorable little envelope, and sent me home.
Later that evening i proudly showed my dad my tooth. He was thrilled - i had finally solved my problem. How, he asked, did i get it out? The string? Just pulling? It was just the tooth's time? No, i said, i went to the dentist - that was, obviously, how i got the adorable envelope.
My dad was livid - absolutely livid, that a) i would go to the dentist for something as minor as taking a tooth out b) that i would expect my parents to pay for it and c) that my mother would take me for such a trivial matter. My mother replied that she hadn't taken me to the dentist - why on earth would she want to sit in a dentist's office when it was my tooth? She told my father i walked myself.
Now, my dad, who is also (obviously) american, had major issues grappling with what actually transpired. His young daughter walked alone to a dentist, was admitted, was treated, and was sent home without question or payment.
At the time i didn't realize there was anything extraordinary about my behavior - it was a simple thing, walking up to the corner, i did it all the time (there was a park there, and the convenience store sold really yummy canadian candy). But now, looking back, an American who pays out the yin-yang for health insurance only to be thwarted when it's needed would think what i did was out of the normal.
I never have though. My first lessons about health care were you went, they fixed you, and you left. I never noticed when the payment structure changed - i figured my mom started taking me to the dentist or doctor because they were farther away and i couldn't walk; i didn't realize the reason was my family and i were back in the states and my mom now had to go with me: she had to pay the bill.
When i went to college and found out about UHS, i still didn't realize you had to pay for medical care: all students are covered, so if you are sick, you walk into UHS, wait for a doctor who sees you, writes you many prescriptions for drugs that cost pennies on the dollar, walk out, go home, take the drugs and go to sleep.
This whole concept that you have to pay (quite a lot) of money for health insurance which then may or may not reduce the fees of your doctors and other medical personel is baffling. I'm now much more aware of the concept since i've been working here in California. My flip answer is simply that i will never get sick, but as we all know, this is a bogus answer. My coworkers say i should contribute to my "medical savings plan" account - this "brillant" concept let you put in money in case you need to cover medical expenses - but - that money can only be used in one calendar year - so you must spend that money on medical care (or buy a new pair of glasses when you don't need them). Charming. Honestly, these plans, to me, sound like highway robbery.
Most people think that government health care plans constitute "free" health care. That is not true. You pay for it alright - the money for the system comes out of you paycheck along with your taxes. But guess what, i already have money coming out of my check for health care, the only difference is, when i walk into a doctor's office in the states, i have to open my wallet and still pay for it. With most government backed systems, you simply don't. The focus of the government programs are simple: preventative care, keep people well. See people early so your costs aren't higher later.
Want to know why Americans are so unhealthy? Preventative care in the states isn't cost effective - for the major industries that currently control so-called health care.
And that fact? Is sick.
Expression: 
